Louder with Crowder - Andrew W.K. Parties On Louder With Crowder!

00:00:00.000 *Dramatic Music* When it's fun at party, we will party hard.

00:00:17.000 Now, some of you watching this may not already know Andrew W.K., and that's a shame.

00:00:21.000 You really should.

00:00:22.000 Known as a rock star for partying hard, he's actually a really intelligent guy with a lot of insight.

00:00:27.000 From his Fox News appearances to his Village Voice help column, I guess you'd call it.

00:00:33.000 You have to read it.

00:00:34.000 To just getting a show now with Glenn Beck's Blaze Radio Network.

00:00:38.000 The guy does a lot of cool stuff, and he's got some interesting things to say.

00:00:41.000 So we caught up with him on a solo tour at a Western Michigan staple Derby Station pub to just hear his thoughts about life.

00:00:48.000 So we're here with Andrew W.K. Thank you, sir, for taking the time.

00:00:51.000 Thank you for having me.

00:00:53.000 I'm not having you.

00:00:54.000 Actually, it's a cool little pub here in Grand Rapids, Derby Station.

00:00:57.000 Yes, and it's Irish theme exposed, or it's sort of just...

00:01:02.000 I don't know.

00:01:02.000 I know you really like Irish pubs.

00:01:04.000 It was that place Gabby's I was reading about.

00:01:05.000 Yes, yes, yes.

00:01:06.000 Well, thank you for being familiar with that.

00:01:07.000 I always found, not just in terms of atmosphere, but especially in terms of service, that there was a standard level of quality that was maintained very consistently at Irish pubs.

00:01:19.000 Pubs, bars, you know, themed restaurants all across at least the U.S. Yeah.

00:01:24.000 And as someone who, you know, maybe wasn't always the most approachable or didn't look like the kind of person that should be served in an establishment, a respectable place, I was always impressed that they always treated everyone, no matter if they were regular or like some guy who looked like me walking in, you know, never having been there, I was always treated well by the bartenders at those places, so.

00:01:44.000 I think that's because in Ireland you're high society.

00:01:46.000 Oh, really?

00:01:46.000 Yeah.

00:01:47.000 I don't know.

00:01:47.000 I know bar fights are a way of life.

00:01:49.000 Well, I'm a pacifist when it comes to bar fighting.

00:01:49.000 Oh, yeah, yeah.

00:01:52.000 You look like you've been working out, though.

00:01:53.000 Try to exercise, you know, have some fun.

00:01:56.000 Partying actually counts as exercise, so that helps as well.

00:01:59.000 The shows are very good exercise tonight.

00:02:02.000 I think that will burn about 1,000 calories.

00:02:04.000 Well, your shows do.

00:02:05.000 Well, yes.

00:02:06.000 It's not quite the same as Yo-Yo Ma going up there and...

00:02:08.000 Well, hey, you know, a cello, that's no joke.

00:02:12.000 I'd say it takes a lot of stamina.

00:02:14.000 Maybe not the same as, you know, prancing and headbanging.

00:02:17.000 Because I do do a lot of prancing.

00:02:18.000 But it's a choice to perform in an athletic style.

00:02:24.000 Now, do you feel like you have to gear up?

00:02:24.000 Right.

00:02:27.000 Like Alice Cooper, I don't know if you've ever read his biography.

00:02:30.000 It's fascinating.

00:02:30.000 He talks about his routine where he goes in, he gets into character, he eats one chocolate chip cookie because that's the right amount of sugar, and then he watches kung fu movies for like 45 minutes.

00:02:42.000 I might not have the numbers exactly right.

00:02:43.000 and then the room has to be dark for half an hour.

00:02:46.000 - Wow.

00:02:46.000 - So I don't have to sleep, but I just have to rest for half an hour. - I had no idea.

00:02:49.000 I never, that's very elaborate for-- - Yeah. - In any profession to prepare to that degree.

00:02:54.000 The cookie, I can relate to because I do like cookie.

00:02:56.000 Who doesn't?

00:02:58.000 Who doesn't like cookie?

00:03:00.000 But no, I've never, I think stretching out.

00:03:03.000 I think stretching out, that's my routine, you know, just so you don't pull a hamstring or, you know, dislocate your knee, which I've done before I've broken my foot.

00:03:12.000 I've broken my nose.

00:03:13.000 Definitely a lot of pulled muscles.

00:03:15.000 But stretching seems to be a good sort of also meditative kind of focused state.

00:03:21.000 I do that too before stand-up.

00:03:22.000 I actually blew up my knee.

00:03:24.000 See, there you go.

00:03:25.000 You can do it by twisting your leg and keeping your body...

00:03:27.000 The listener won't want to hear this, but I want to hear your story.

00:03:30.000 So there was, you know, sometimes I build those stages of like those multi-purpose sort of wooden blocks.

00:03:30.000 Mine was this.

00:03:35.000 Yes, yes.

00:03:35.000 They're modular.

00:03:36.000 Yeah, and they're supposed to like contain them somehow, but the kid didn't.

00:03:39.000 It was at a college.

00:03:40.000 So they shifted apart.

00:03:41.000 So I'm walking.

00:03:43.000 My heel slips in and stays, but the ball of my, so it's like a brace.

00:03:47.000 I keep walking, but my shin stays perpendicular as I fall over.

00:03:51.000 And it's still not like I'm looking at surgery.

00:03:53.000 I mean, people don't realize...

00:03:55.000 And it's not...

00:03:55.000 I'm going to have a pretty energetic show.

00:03:57.000 What you do is crazy.

00:03:58.000 I mean, how long is the show?

00:03:59.000 It's over an hour, right?

00:04:00.000 Well, these shows tonight will be an hour long.

00:04:03.000 The longest we've ever done is probably an hour and 45 minutes, two hours.

00:04:07.000 Our show, because of that kind of energy level, the style of music, it doesn't lend itself well to going much longer than an hour and a half.

00:04:15.000 Because the crowd also, they're going...

00:04:17.000 Full blown.

00:04:18.000 So to be sprinting for an hour and a half, that's asking a lot of anybody.

00:04:23.000 Right.

00:04:24.000 And I think there's a more effective kind of contrast when you just blow it all out and then it's done.

00:04:29.000 Right.

00:04:30.000 And then you're just sort of in this daze of what just happened.

00:04:34.000 Do you feel like exercising helps translate to that?

00:04:37.000 I had advice one time where someone said, hey, kid, as an actor, stand-up comedy, your career is not a sprint, it's a marathon.

00:04:44.000 And I thought, it's really not, it's more like interval training, you know, rhythms and margins.

00:04:48.000 Yes, high-impact interval training.

00:04:50.000 That's a much better comparison.

00:04:52.000 Okay.

00:04:52.000 Because it's dynamic.

00:04:53.000 Yeah.

00:04:54.000 And there's moments, even in any career, where...

00:04:58.000 The only way you can really appreciate anything you've done is to be able to have a time to reflect on it, to absorb it.

00:05:03.000 I think that's the most important thing.

00:05:05.000 When being very busy, It's not so much that you even want to reflect and think, oh, that was really fun when I did this two weeks ago, or last year, it's great to remember back.

00:05:13.000 You're going through so much so fast, in life in general, actually, with anyone, whatever their pursuits are, that I feel like you have to actually give your soul time to absorb your own life, to put it into perspective within yourself.

00:05:29.000 And it might not even be a very formalized, literal way of thinking about it.

00:05:34.000 It just...

00:05:35.000 You just kind of have to be like a sponge and soak it all up.

00:05:39.000 And you know, it's funny.

00:05:40.000 I mean, you're a very introspective guy.

00:05:42.000 And yeah, I've read quite a bit of your sort of, I guess, I don't even call them advice columns.

00:05:47.000 Yeah, advice columns.

00:05:48.000 Okay, advice columns.

00:05:49.000 And do you feel like there's this image, I mean, obviously people take party and you sort of put it out there as more of a generality, as like a positive experience.

00:05:58.000 But do you think people maybe have an image of you that's not inherently accurate?

00:06:02.000 Like, they picture, you know, like you're a very calm, well-spoken, introspective guy.

00:06:06.000 Do you think people expect, like, to party by Andrew W.K. all the time?

00:06:08.000 I can do that, too.

00:06:09.000 I know, and you're good with that.

00:06:10.000 I can go, well, we're here and having some fun, and we're going to smash things and then run amok us.

00:06:15.000 And that's just, there's times when that's called for.

00:06:19.000 You're in a, well, Ashley, you have a very high energy level.

00:06:22.000 The way I've seen you carry your program, it's definitely amped up.

00:06:26.000 Right.

00:06:26.000 But I usually just respond to whatever the atmosphere is calling for and try to, I don't know, mirror the surroundings in a way that adds to it.

00:06:36.000 Right.

00:06:36.000 I'm not here with some kind of MO that I have to get across this certain thing.

00:06:40.000 Like shtick.

00:06:41.000 Yeah, because it just doesn't feel right.

00:06:43.000 I don't know.

00:06:44.000 I'm more interested in trying to communicate.

00:06:47.000 Yeah.

00:06:47.000 So that's what we're trying to talk about.

00:06:49.000 We were sort of talking about this.

00:06:50.000 Do you feel like...

00:06:51.000 Because a lot of entertainment now, people our age, relatively our age, a lot of the entertainment, and we'll go to a break soon, though, but is very conversational, like podcasts.

00:06:59.000 That's true.

00:07:00.000 And it's sort of a...

00:07:01.000 And I almost feel like it's because our parents, they had their conversations in the house, and then they turned on TV and, gee, willikers, you know?

00:07:08.000 But now we're so engaged in our devices...

00:07:11.000 That we want our entertainment to feel more real.

00:07:14.000 Oh, that's interesting.

00:07:15.000 Maybe you're compensating for not having as many conversations throughout the day because of technology, the computer, or even just sort of your lifestyle, and then you want to listen to other people having conversations to make up for that void.

00:07:28.000 I mean, this would never play on traditional media, you know, ten years ago.

00:07:32.000 It's engrossing.

00:07:33.000 There's something about it that's very unique.

00:07:35.000 The podcast phenomenon, it's a style and it's a tone unto itself.

00:07:38.000 Yeah.

00:07:38.000 I don't know.

00:07:39.000 I couldn't be an idiot, but I just noticed that. 0.98

00:07:41.000 I find myself becoming more consumed with... 0.95

00:07:44.000 Well, we'll talk more after the break.

00:07:46.000 So, we first met, I think it was at a Fox News green room.

00:07:51.000 I think it might have been red-eyed.

00:07:51.000 Oh, yeah.

00:07:52.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:07:53.000 I know I had done things by satellite.

00:07:55.000 So let me ask you this.

00:07:56.000 You don't necessarily go out and discuss politics.

00:07:59.000 So you've had some interesting political insights that I've taken with me that you may not even realize how influential they were.

00:08:04.000 But do you feel like in the industry where you are, have you had any blowback just for going on Fox News?

00:08:11.000 Because that's like this dirty word.

00:08:12.000 Have you felt that at all from people?

00:08:15.000 Much less than I ever would have imagined.

00:08:18.000 Okay.

00:08:19.000 When I first went on TV in general, like MTV, I got to do Saturday Night Live right at the beginning of my first album cycle.

00:08:29.000 Beginning of my career, we did Conan.

00:08:32.000 I got general blowback from a lot of my friends who thought just doing anything on TV at all was bad.

00:08:37.000 That it was evil, corporate, like what you were saying earlier with your ad sponsors.

00:08:41.000 That it was playing into this machine that I should avoid.

00:08:46.000 But I... Completely disagreed and I actually was expecting that because a lot of these friends of mine that I've grown up with We're very against the grain.

00:08:55.000 I mean, really radical in almost off-the-grid type living.

00:08:59.000 This is in Ann Arbor?

00:09:00.000 Yeah, this is in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

00:09:01.000 But I was always very much interested and stimulated by that kind of far-out thinkers.

00:09:08.000 Sure.

00:09:09.000 But didn't really relate to it personally, because I like TV. I like Saturday Night Live, and it was like the greatest thrill in my whole life to be able to go and do stuff like that.

00:09:15.000 It was a great performance, too, not to kiss ass, but... 0.89

00:09:17.000 Thank you for being familiar with it. 0.98

00:09:19.000 Um...

00:09:20.000 So then over the years, I just always liked television and I always liked being able to have this thing, that my thing could be able to go on those places, go into these other realms where maybe I don't fit in or maybe you wouldn't expect me to go, and actually have it be okay and make sense.

00:09:36.000 And so by the time things like Fox News came around, I was still wondering, and there were a few people that said, oh, they're evil, don't go on there.

00:09:45.000 It was much less than I expected.

00:09:47.000 And I actually more than take credit for that personally.

00:09:50.000 I think that just shows that maybe I have a really great audience that affords that kind of open-mindedness.

00:09:57.000 To whatever I'm doing.

00:09:58.000 Or maybe they just realize it's not really what I'm...

00:10:01.000 I don't have an agenda beyond really sort of good cheer.

00:10:07.000 So, I don't know.

00:10:08.000 They cut me a lot of slack, I guess.

00:10:09.000 I will say that I noticed there are two places on the internet that aren't horrible.

00:10:13.000 Your Twitter feed and Art of Manliness is actually a website.

00:10:16.000 We had the founder on here.

00:10:17.000 They're very, very positive.

00:10:19.000 I mean, I'm sure everyone gets people who hate them.

00:10:19.000 It seems like...

00:10:21.000 It seems like you don't get a lot of people who live to hate...

00:10:25.000 I've never run into one like, I just hated your WK. There's a few out there, but I try to take their comments in stride.

00:10:32.000 Even today, I was thinking about this, and you, I'm sure, deal with this a lot.

00:10:38.000 Most people hate me. 1.00

00:10:39.000 I expect you to leave here and be like, geez, that guy was a jackass. 0.99

00:10:42.000 At least you have a default mode that you can operate in. 0.98

00:10:47.000 It makes it easier to realize what you're up against at all times.

00:10:51.000 But it seems like there's sort of, whenever you put yourself out there, when you decide to do something that is a public offering, like entertainment, radio, anything, you're asking someone to consider it, to give their time to it, you're going to get this kind of feedback.

00:11:05.000 So the question is, it's the comments section of life.

00:11:09.000 Do you completely avoid the comments section of life and not look at all Look what everyone's saying.

00:11:14.000 Do you look at it and then really get upset by it?

00:11:17.000 Right.

00:11:17.000 Or is there a way to actually look at it and try to extract something from it?

00:11:22.000 And that's what I, it's very challenging.

00:11:24.000 It's painful.

00:11:25.000 That's what I've been trying to do.

00:11:26.000 Like maybe they're right.

00:11:27.000 So some of these criticisms, like I went on this show the other day, I'm going back again.

00:11:30.000 And some of the criticisms that people had about my comments, I agreed with them.

00:11:34.000 And it didn't feel great to realize that I slightly misspoke or could have said something better and couldn't go back and change it.

00:11:34.000 Yeah.

00:11:41.000 Right.

00:11:41.000 But it felt very good that I could take really what was sort of mean-spirited criticism and say, like, you know what, they have a point there.

00:11:47.000 And that takes away this whole, this fighting.

00:11:50.000 It's tough to do that, though, when my YouTube is just littered with people calling me Jewfag.

00:11:54.000 Like, I don't know what I can point in front of that. 0.99

00:11:57.000 Maybe I am Jewish, perhaps gay. 0.83

00:12:00.000 So maybe, well, what you could glean from it would be that you're not blocking out the world just because it's threatening.

00:12:08.000 And I think it goes back to kind of what we were talking about, rhythms and margins.

00:12:10.000 Like, there are times where I can go on YouTube.

00:12:13.000 I mean, because that's my world, right?

00:12:14.000 People going with the Fox News and...

00:12:16.000 People there didn't really like it.

00:12:18.000 It's an extreme liability.

00:12:19.000 There's no worse place than the YouTube section.

00:12:21.000 It's worse than Twitter.

00:12:22.000 And there are times where I can look at it and get inspired and say, okay, I can, you know, Bruce Lee absorb the good, discard the bad.

00:12:29.000 And then there are times where I just know mentally I'm not in a place where I can handle it.

00:12:33.000 So don't go.

00:12:33.000 You just have to avoid it.

00:12:34.000 Well, that's like, you know, if you're home alone and you're feeling on edge and it's a dark, stormy night, maybe it's not the best choice to watch a horror movie that night.

00:12:42.000 Or for some people it is.

00:12:43.000 Maybe it's the best.

00:12:44.000 That's what I was going to say.

00:12:45.000 Meaning, pick and choose your moments when you have that kind of internal strength to face things that are designed to be challenging.

00:12:52.000 These people are trying to challenge you.

00:12:54.000 I mean, a lot of times they're just, you know, trolling as they say, trying to rile you up, trying to get under your skin.

00:13:00.000 But even that, I want to be strong enough to let people get under my skin and see what that's like.

00:13:05.000 So it's a pretty far out place.

00:13:10.000 I don't know if I'll ever become that enlightened where I can actually go through life with that kind of...

00:13:21.000 Impenetrable vulnerability.

00:13:22.000 Yeah.

00:13:23.000 It's a strange combination.

00:13:24.000 It's going to be hard for you, you know, and I'm not saying this to sound like authoritative, but as an artist, as someone who's obviously very creative, same thing as a comedian, you know, you can't be thick-skinned in the sense that what makes you able to create something...

00:13:36.000 Makes you inherently thin-skinned.

00:13:37.000 It makes you sensitive to pick up on things and create something out of that.

00:13:41.000 That's very well said.

00:13:42.000 That's a good observation.

00:13:43.000 I think, yeah, you want to be weak enough to be...

00:13:46.000 You want to be strong enough to be weak enough.

00:13:49.000 You know what I mean?

00:13:49.000 A really strong person isn't strong just in this way to barricade themselves from the world.

00:13:55.000 They're strong enough to actually be vulnerable.

00:13:57.000 It's this very strange paradox.

00:13:59.000 We talked about that, too, with another guest.

00:14:02.000 I talk about this sort of...

00:14:05.000 I guess vilifying of masculinity nowadays.

00:14:07.000 And I'm not talking about some false sense of machismo in hunting and fishing, but I think boys are very confused.

00:14:13.000 And I think a big part of that, too, is also you have people saying that, you know, men are inherently, you know, your male privilege is showing, and they make them feel guilty.

00:14:19.000 But then you have people acting like, well, you're either the jock or you're the book nerd.

00:14:25.000 When if you look at people even like Patton, you look at people like Churchill, you look at great men, they all were very, very layered people.

00:14:33.000 You know, back then, you were only considered a complete man if you were intelligent, if you were creative, if you were well-spoken, and if you had the physical.

00:14:41.000 Whereas now you tell people like, it's one or the other.

00:14:44.000 Right, you're a type of person.

00:14:45.000 Right.

00:14:46.000 That's a really great observation.

00:14:47.000 I like that idea.

00:14:48.000 You're trying to assemble many types of people into one layered, as you said, and synchronized whole, where all those things actually...

00:14:57.000 It's not like you're this way, one minute you're this way.

00:14:59.000 They're all working in tandem to sort of Bring out the best that you can achieve as a human.

00:15:05.000 Yeah.

00:15:05.000 A complete man.

00:15:06.000 Well, that's a great...

00:15:07.000 That's someone to aspire to.

00:15:08.000 Oh, well, thank you.

00:15:09.000 See, you're making me feel smart.

00:15:10.000 A great human.

00:15:11.000 Yeah.

00:15:11.000 Well, I guess I was talking more so about men because we've had feminists on the show who just, you know, your patriarchy's showing.

00:15:16.000 Like, oh, damn it. 0.99

00:15:17.000 They just had the... 0.99

00:15:18.000 What was it?

00:15:19.000 They just had the...

00:15:20.000 I don't even know if I can say... 0.98

00:15:21.000 They had the slut walk just yesterday. 1.00

00:15:23.000 Wait, what's that? 1.00

00:15:24.000 That's where you walk around naked and call men rapists. 1.00

00:15:27.000 Wow. 0.92

00:15:27.000 That's what it is. 0.92

00:15:28.000 That's like the feminist thing. 1.00

00:15:29.000 They do it across many cities.

00:15:31.000 Okay.

00:15:31.000 So anyway, that's why my mind was there.

00:15:34.000 And then Jeremy Renner got a bunch of flack, I'm sure you heard, for the Black Widow comment.

00:15:38.000 No, I didn't.

00:15:39.000 It was really funny.

00:15:40.000 He said, well, Black Widow in the comics doesn't sleep with Captain America and doesn't quite sleep with...

00:15:47.000 Hawkeye.

00:15:47.000 Is that Scarlett Johansson's character?

00:15:49.000 And he said, yeah, he said, Black Widow, a fictional character.

00:15:49.000 Yeah, yeah.

00:15:52.000 She's just a total slut. 1.00

00:15:53.000 And now feminists are furious. 1.00

00:15:55.000 It's a fictional character.

00:15:57.000 Yeah, you know.

00:15:58.000 People get excited.

00:16:00.000 I won't bring you to that one.

00:16:03.000 Okay, so you've been on Fox News.

00:16:05.000 You appear on the Glenn Beck stuff, right?

00:16:06.000 And I'm sure you get people who think, you know, would you appear on Hitler's show?

00:16:10.000 Now, you've never really been open about your politics as far as, like, saying I'm a conservative or putting a label on it.

00:16:16.000 But I would have to imagine, just in being accepting of the invitations to those programs, that you're not a far lefty.

00:16:25.000 I don't feel like I'm anything.

00:16:27.000 I was thinking about this earlier today, maybe in anticipation of coming on the show.

00:16:33.000 I don't think there was a time when I ever identified as anything.

00:16:36.000 Right. 0.92

00:16:37.000 Largely because I was extremely uneducated, still am, just sort of ignorant, not proud of it either, on a lot of the issues.

00:16:44.000 So I didn't feel prepared or even capable of picking a position all the time.

00:16:51.000 And two, I just wasn't interested in it.

00:16:53.000 I just really wasn't interested.

00:16:54.000 If I had to label myself, I would want to have been labeled as a musician or as a painter or as...

00:17:00.000 You know, a person.

00:17:01.000 So I just didn't find that kind of engaging with the world through a political point of view.

00:17:08.000 Did you feel like you had to become more aware, though, because you had people going like, why would you go on Glenn Beck?

00:17:13.000 Did that make you go like, well, why am I going on Glenn Beck?

00:17:16.000 Is this really bad?

00:17:18.000 No, because he asked me.

00:17:20.000 Yeah, exactly.

00:17:20.000 That's how I've gone through life is...

00:17:23.000 More and more a sense of there's something pulling me along and I can fight it or I can show up and do it.

00:17:29.000 And the more I've shown up and done it, sometimes against my instincts, sometimes against the advice of people I really trust and respect, but gave into a deeper, more subtle I've just followed it and things have worked out.

00:17:47.000 I really would like to be able to take things case by case as much as possible in life.

00:17:53.000 And while that might not always be possible, we do need to sort of have preset ways of looking at the world in order just to move through it.

00:18:01.000 Right.

00:18:02.000 I try to stay focused on open-mindedness as the default mode.

00:18:06.000 And even question that.

00:18:06.000 Right.

00:18:07.000 You know, question everything, even including questioning everything.

00:18:10.000 So it can get exhausting not resting on a certain point of view.

00:18:15.000 But it's been, for me, it's been more, I've learned a lot more than I think I would have if I had just stayed with one point of view and then worked to defend it.

00:18:24.000 But you've got to recognize that that's different from a lot of...

00:18:26.000 Because every rock star considers themselves open-minded.

00:18:32.000 But most of them would never even think of doing a show that has someone labeled as a conservative attached to it.

00:18:37.000 So do you think it's maybe they're fooling themselves into thinking they're open-minded?

00:18:41.000 Because it seems like you're very sincere.

00:18:43.000 That's the one thing I think why no one really hates you is because it's contagious, your authenticity.

00:18:48.000 You're very nice.

00:18:49.000 I don't know what to say to that.

00:18:51.000 I just...

00:18:52.000 I'm trying to have an adventure in life, and I feel as an entertainer, because that's what I do, if I'm not entertained by my own life, how would I be able to entertain other people?

00:19:07.000 That's a good point.

00:19:09.000 So I don't know why other people don't do what I do, or why I don't do what other people do.

00:19:15.000 I'm doing what I'm supposed to do.

00:19:18.000 That's not even what I want to do sometimes, but what I'm meant to do.

00:19:22.000 It's been hard to figure that out, but I'm getting better at following it.

00:19:26.000 Gosh, that leaves it open to so many questions.

00:19:29.000 When you say meant to do, what do you feel is drawing you?

00:19:34.000 Do you call it the universe, God?

00:19:37.000 All of that.

00:19:39.000 A force, maybe your own internal instincts again.

00:19:44.000 But I've noticed when I feel like I'm being useful, that I'm adding something rather than just taking away Or taking to make my life better.

00:19:53.000 When I feel like someone else can relate to something that I've offered and it's made them feel good or it's allowed them to tap into the part of themselves that already did feel good and they didn't realize it.

00:20:05.000 Anything that sort of did make me feel like I was making, I was contributing.

00:20:09.000 That was the thing.

00:20:10.000 Because there was things I wanted to do because I liked it or I wanted to make money because of this so I could buy this or live in a certain way.

00:20:16.000 There was always a slight flatness, like striving for the achievement was satisfying.

00:20:23.000 But the kind of end result, when there wasn't another person involved, it wasn't as rewarding.

00:20:28.000 So I started thinking that maybe I could try to Not just cheer myself up, but cheer other people up.

00:20:34.000 That's a great point.

00:20:35.000 Well, we'll keep you on for one more segment if you can.

00:20:37.000 Yeah, of course.

00:20:37.000 Because that leaves me with something to bring up a lot of with Crowder after the break.

00:20:41.000 So we're back with NUWK. And you were talking about that, talking about creating and how, if you're not entertaining yourself.

00:20:46.000 You know, it's funny because, and I've never talked about this, but when I first met you, I don't...

00:20:50.000 When I started at Fox News, I was 21.

00:20:52.000 Wow.

00:20:53.000 It's not about Fox News, but New York.

00:20:54.000 You love New York.

00:20:56.000 I hated it.

00:20:58.000 I did it when I first got there, too.

00:20:59.000 Did you?

00:21:00.000 Yeah.

00:21:00.000 I did it two different stints, and it just wasn't me.

00:21:04.000 And you could sense that.

00:21:05.000 Like, if you go back and you watch the hits I was doing on television, if you go back, you can just sense that there's...

00:21:11.000 I mean, if people listen to the show or people watch the videos, they're like, I think Stephen's a bit of... 0.97

00:21:16.000 I think he's a bit of a jerk in his point of view, but he seems like a happy guy. 0.97

00:21:19.000 You could sense that I wasn't happy. 0.99

00:21:22.000 And I know with comedy, it's...

00:21:24.000 Because there's no, there really is no, unless you're like, gosh, I'm trying to think, like a character, like a Pee Wee Herman or something, you know, you're doing a character, it's just you, and that really is reflected in comedy.

00:21:35.000 It comes out.

00:21:36.000 Do you feel like that's the same thing with your music, where if you're in a state where not only are you not entertaining yourself, but you don't feel like you're really pursuing or fulfilling what you're meant to do, that it can pick up on?

00:21:46.000 Yeah, you're destroying your soul.

00:21:47.000 Yeah.

00:21:48.000 And that's painful.

00:21:49.000 It could be cathartic for other people to see someone going through that in a...

00:21:54.000 In a dramatic way, but ultimately you want to see people that are feeling inspired.

00:21:59.000 I do my best work when I'm excited about life, when I feel like I'm Maybe not figuring things out, but at least going towards some kind of purpose or meaning.

00:22:09.000 I mean, there's times when I've thought that everything was meaningless.

00:22:11.000 I went through all kinds of complete ambivalence and sort of tore away everything about life and then built it back up again.

00:22:19.000 And now I'm in a building back up again phase, which I hope never stops.

00:22:22.000 I don't want to tear it down again.

00:22:24.000 Right.

00:22:25.000 You know, you can die when you do things like that. 0.97

00:22:27.000 But if you feel like you have to, then sometimes you're like, crap, I've got to do this again.

00:22:31.000 You go through ordeals in life and you hope that you come out of them stronger.

00:22:35.000 And at the time, it can seem like, how could this ever be valuable?

00:22:40.000 But those dark moments, I feel like especially, and I'm not sure what your childhood was like, I had a very, very privileged upbringing.

00:22:48.000 You know, just a good family, endless support, great surroundings with friends and mentors everywhere.

00:22:55.000 And things were so good, I think that I almost had to create bad experiences so I could have a fuller version of life.

00:23:03.000 I mean, your parents, of course, they want you to have this perfect existence, but you don't get to know yourself or even the world unless, for better or worse, you go through some bad stuff.

00:23:14.000 And even if you have to make it happen on your own.

00:23:16.000 Right.

00:23:17.000 At the end of the day, you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, I mean, have I done everything that I could do?

00:23:23.000 Did I do everything that was in my power to make sure that I'm prepared for whatever it is, you know, whether it's a show or whether it's, you know, the next stage of life?

00:23:31.000 And that's a scary moment, I feel like, because if you can say yes, you go to work and you're willing to accept the result.

00:23:37.000 For me, I don't know about you, like, as far as a tearing down phase, This is kind of the question for me, and it has nothing to do with politics.

00:23:45.000 I know people on the AM dial might be shutting this off, but you never know.

00:23:49.000 That's what I'm saying.

00:23:50.000 It depends on who's listening.

00:23:52.000 What are the harder failures to handle for you?

00:23:56.000 The ones where you've made a mistake and you're going like, oh, I know I made a mistake, or the ones where you feel like you did everything right, everything you could, and it just still didn't work?

00:24:06.000 That's such a fantastic question.

00:24:11.000 Well, hopefully both of those types of experiences could again provide insight, education, self-knowledge, and some type of strengthening in the end.

00:24:23.000 But I feel like the first one is more painful because all you'd ever want is to feel like you gave everything you had to this chance to be alive.

00:24:36.000 Whatever happens, you have to then just take in stride as that it was meant to happen.

00:24:40.000 If you truly felt like you hesitated, didn't trust that instinct, didn't follow this purpose or this call, and basically wasted your life, that to me would be much harder.

00:24:52.000 Even if it was just a day of your life or 10 years or the whole thing.

00:24:56.000 I thought you were going to go with the Oprah answer, where I hope I would learn either way, and then you gave an actual definitive answer.

00:25:01.000 Well, I threw that in too.

00:25:02.000 No, it was good, but it was good though.

00:25:04.000 You know, yeah, I would say for me, it's one of those things where, yeah, the mistakes are like, you know, those are what keep me up at night.

00:25:11.000 When I'm facing it, though, and it's like I've done everything because, you know, I didn't really...

00:25:15.000 I wouldn't say I have a privileged childhood.

00:25:17.000 I'm very privileged that I have a great family.

00:25:18.000 You know, I grew up in a socialist province where they thought I was basically learning disabled because I had to go to French schools and it wasn't my first language and it was the language laws.

00:25:27.000 I mean, just discriminatory language laws.

00:25:30.000 In Quebec, yeah.

00:25:30.000 In Quebec?

00:25:32.000 But I am very, very grateful and I have the best father and mother and brother you could ask for.

00:25:36.000 But for me, where it was, you know, if I was like...

00:25:40.000 I've studied for this test, I've done it, or same thing now, I'm prepared for this show, and I've done everything I can, and then it still doesn't work.

00:25:46.000 When it happens, it's devastating.

00:25:49.000 But I feel like it's something where I know I can move past it because I go, well, I just have to correct it and move forward.

00:25:54.000 Whereas even though you're looking back, something where you made an error, those are things where if I'm alone at night and I'm not sleeping, I'm like, oh, you know, and I just wince.

00:26:01.000 It is.

00:26:02.000 And there's still things, there's things that I don't allow myself to think about going back 10 years, 15, 20 years ago because I've closed that chapter.

00:26:12.000 I said, there's nothing I can do to fix that.

00:26:14.000 I will never make that mistake again.

00:26:16.000 Never have.

00:26:17.000 Right.

00:26:18.000 And that's the only thing I could take away.

00:26:21.000 But it doesn't solve that feeling of it being like ding, ding, ding, needling in.

00:26:24.000 It's bad.

00:26:25.000 It's nauseating.

00:26:26.000 Especially if it's in the public eye where something you can just Google and you're like, oh.

00:26:28.000 I mean, I'll tell you what.

00:26:29.000 That was with me and Fox News and where I have a rule now where I don't do media unless it's my friend Dana.

00:26:35.000 And it's because, like, if I put up a video or this show is going to go up, right, people have the full thing.

00:26:39.000 They can make their judgment.

00:26:40.000 They could hate you.

00:26:41.000 They could hate me.

00:26:42.000 I'm okay with that.

00:26:43.000 What's really hard is running a search and seeing someone take a clip from a show where I said something because I was asked something by a host.

00:26:51.000 And even though I said what I meant, it's cut in a way or out of context where people could misconstrue it.

00:26:57.000 I said, I'm not okay with that.

00:26:59.000 That I can't handle.

00:27:01.000 That's hard.

00:27:02.000 That's like almost getting into injustice territory, which is...

00:27:07.000 True emotional pain.

00:27:09.000 Right.

00:27:09.000 That's anguish.

00:27:11.000 But better to have that version of injustice than being thrown in prison for life for something you didn't do or something like that.

00:27:17.000 That's true.

00:27:18.000 I mean, I've gotten just more and more excited about this idea of trying to truly become, like, the best person.

00:27:27.000 And it's the hardest thing in the world.

00:27:29.000 It's harder than anything else that I ever wanted to try to achieve, like putting out an album or getting on TV or making money or being successful, making my dreams come true.

00:27:39.000 Yeah.

00:27:40.000 All these very self-involved pursuits.

00:27:42.000 The entertainment industry.

00:27:43.000 Yeah, ambition in the traditional sense.

00:27:45.000 Then there was this idea of, what if I could just be better brother?

00:27:51.000 What if I could be a better son?

00:27:53.000 What if I could be a better husband?

00:27:54.000 What if I could be a better friend?

00:27:56.000 And those were much like, ah, that's going to really actually take real work.

00:28:00.000 Like all the work, striving, recording, hours, staying up for three days working, doesn't even come close to 1% of how hard it is to try to face yourself inside out and say maybe that's what real life actually is.

00:28:15.000 And all the other stuff is to facilitate that pursuit somehow.

00:28:18.000 Right.

00:28:20.000 That's a good point.

00:28:20.000 But you know what?

00:28:21.000 I would say then it kind of comes in a roundabout way because, I mean, you sold out, we're here in Grand Rapids, you sold out the pyramid scheme.

00:28:26.000 I mean, very quickly.

00:28:27.000 That's crazy.

00:28:28.000 But that's, I got to hand that to them, their promotion.

00:28:31.000 Well, we'll take you downtown if we have time.

00:28:32.000 We'll take you and just show you around.

00:28:33.000 It's right around here.

00:28:34.000 It's an incredible town.

00:28:35.000 There's a lot of city pride in Grand Rapids.

00:28:36.000 A lot of beloved places here.

00:28:38.000 I can tell that right away.

00:28:39.000 It's a lot like Ann Arbor or your friend there, Austin.

00:28:44.000 Yeah.

00:28:44.000 I think that a big part of it, like I said, it's contagious, is the authenticity.

00:28:47.000 And when you are really just trying to improve yourself and enjoying what you do, that in itself almost becomes like a gimmick.

00:28:55.000 Because everyone else is trying to find a gimmick, and they're trying to create this, or this is the marketing tool.

00:29:01.000 And I will say this, you're performing your first album, right?

00:29:04.000 Isn't that what you're doing for the hour?

00:29:05.000 Oh, it's a mix.

00:29:06.000 Oh, it's a mix, okay.

00:29:07.000 But you perform a lot of these songs.

00:29:09.000 Some of them are older.

00:29:10.000 Some of them are newer.

00:29:11.000 But there are a lot of artists who would say, I don't want to do that.

00:29:14.000 I just want to do new stuff.

00:29:15.000 Paul McCartney goes up and says, Paul, we don't really want to hear your Starbucks album.

00:29:20.000 We want to hear your classic stuff.

00:29:22.000 And the fact that you just seem to genuinely enjoy pleasing your audience is almost abnormal now.

00:29:30.000 As opposed to, my art is for me.

00:29:31.000 Well, your art is enjoyable for all people.

00:29:34.000 Well, that's why I made it.

00:29:37.000 That's what I was interested in trying to get.

00:29:39.000 But also, I like those songs.

00:29:40.000 There's nothing grueling about me playing Party Hard.

00:29:44.000 I explained this to a very close friend of mine the other day who asked if I was sick of doing that song yet.

00:29:51.000 And even I am surprised at the fact that I enjoy playing it now even more than when it was first written.

00:29:56.000 I don't know why.

00:29:58.000 I don't question it, though.

00:29:59.000 I just am thankful that this thing is revealing itself to me.

00:30:03.000 What I told him is that song, I don't even feel like I created that song.

00:30:07.000 That song created me.

00:30:08.000 That song created, you know, whatever I've gotten to do that's led me here, I sort of worship that because I wouldn't be here without it.

00:30:16.000 So to be resentful of it or to turn away, I don't get a creative charge or inspiration from sort of trashing everything I've already done.

00:30:26.000 I do realize some people work like that.

00:30:28.000 That's a lot of people.

00:30:29.000 Yeah, I never watched.

00:30:30.000 That happened when they showed up for a band.

00:30:32.000 I don't know if I want to name it, because you're probably friends with them.

00:30:34.000 I don't name them, don't name them.

00:30:34.000 But they showed up and they did something, and they didn't play any of the songs that people wanted them to play.

00:30:39.000 It was this whole concept album, Bull Crap.

00:30:42.000 It was just really tough, you know, because these people had paid for a ticket.

00:30:45.000 it.

00:30:46.000 So I think Billy Joel is one, I know, but Billy Joel, I have this opinion that if you're, for example, in this pub, and a Billy Joel song comes on, you're immediately going to, oh wait, there's something going that makes me want to tap my foot.

00:30:58.000 I love Billy Joel.

00:30:58.000 Okay, there you go.

00:30:59.000 I've seen him live, and I agree, he played, you know, all the songs everybody wanted to hear, and then even deep ones that weren't his choice, maybe, you know.

00:31:06.000 Right.

00:31:07.000 And I've had experiences where I've done shows, Where I did what I felt like doing, and people were disappointed, and I didn't feel good.

00:31:13.000 And I didn't want to push against that.

00:31:16.000 I mean, I learned from experience, too, where I have use, where I'm valuable, where I can offer something that actually is appreciated.

00:31:24.000 I can play that stuff at home, I can do that at other shows, make it clear that this show I'm not going to be playing my songs, and I've done that, but I would never abandon...

00:31:34.000 It's like a tree.

00:31:35.000 I don't want to cut down this whole tree just because I want to build a new nest in one area of it.

00:31:39.000 You know what I mean?

00:31:40.000 Yeah.

00:31:40.000 This thing is growing and it kind of takes on a life of its own after you plant the seed.

00:31:45.000 And you've got to then tend to the tree.

00:31:47.000 I'm there to protect it and help it and feed it and grow it and be part of it.

00:31:51.000 And I don't want to have to cut it down just because I feel like, you know, Making a new offshoot or something.

00:31:57.000 Right.

00:31:57.000 Yeah, and some artists feel that way.

00:31:58.000 Billy Joel, I think he said, he said, I'm never going to write better songs than I did in my 30s.

00:32:02.000 They're incredible.

00:32:02.000 Because I'm just, I became rich and fat.

00:32:06.000 You know, like, it's kind of like the fighter George St.

00:32:08.000 Pierre's trainer said, you know, it's very hard to get out of the bed at 5 a.m.

00:32:11.000 to train to defend your title when you're sleeping in silk sheets.

00:32:14.000 That's a very good point.

00:32:15.000 It's true.

00:32:16.000 So it's like, just embrace it, you know?

00:32:18.000 And I think it's very noble, and also I understand artists that don't do that, but you just got to do what feels right to you.

00:32:25.000 Great.

00:32:25.000 Well, you do seem like you're in a good place.

00:32:28.000 I feel like there's things happening, and I'm thankful.

00:32:32.000 Certain things that we can't talk about, but big projects that may be in the works for you.

00:32:34.000 Yes, exciting stuff coming up.

00:32:36.000 As always, very surprising things I never would have expected in a million years.

00:32:39.000 I've turned myself over to whatever this thing is, this force, this destiny, and it is pulling me along.

00:32:44.000 I'm just doing the best I can to make the most of it as it happens.

00:32:47.000 Well, okay, where can people best find you?

00:32:50.000 Inderwk.com.

00:32:51.000 Okay.

00:32:51.000 All one word, two W's.

00:32:53.000 And then every other website with Inderwk at the end.

00:32:56.000 Twitter.com slash Inderwk.

00:32:57.000 All the social media's mentioned.

00:32:58.000 YouTube.com slash Inderwk.

00:33:00.000 Do you do YouTube?

00:33:01.000 Are you on YouTube?

00:33:02.000 Yeah, I don't update it as much as some do with videos every day.

00:33:06.000 I would like to.

00:33:07.000 It takes a lot of discipline.

00:33:08.000 I stick with Twitter.

00:33:09.000 That became my...

00:33:10.000 Your thing.

00:33:11.000 I just loved how one-dimensional and pure and short and like...

00:33:16.000 So it felt like you were hanging out at a party, actually, with all these people chattering back and forth.

00:33:21.000 We didn't even talk about partying.

00:33:22.000 I'm so sorry.

00:33:23.000 I got it in there.

00:33:25.000 I got it in there.

00:33:26.000 Thanks, man.

00:33:26.000 Thank you very much.

00:33:27.000 Hey, if you like this video, subscribe by clicking my face or watch this video next to me playing in a box.

00:33:33.000 Not Andrew WK. He's here, but there's another box next to him that you can click.

00:33:40.000 Maybe we should put him in a box.

Louder with Crowder - May 02, 2015

Andrew W.K. Parties On Louder With Crowder!

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